Conference Program

The twin transition, integrating digital transformation and environmental sustainability, requires not only technological innovation but also profound processes of organizational learning and democratic capacity-building. While policy debates often focus on firms’ technological upgrading, far less attention has been devoted to the democratic infrastructures that enable collective learning and inclusive adaptation. Cooperatives, as democratically governed enterprises, represent a privileged setting to explore the reciprocal relationship between learning and democracy: whether democratic governance fosters learning for sustainability, and whether learning processes, in turn, reinforce democratic participation. This study investigates how Italian manufacturing cooperatives combine digitalization and circular economy strategies with internal investments in workforce reskilling and environmental education. Building on a dataset of 212 cooperatives (2021–2023) developed within the Climate Circular Coop project, we examine not only training intensity and thematic breadth, but also training quality—capturing the degree to which learning is structured, assessed, practice-oriented, and inclusive across occupational groups. We analyse whether cooperatives characterised by higher-quality transition-related training are more likely to implement circular economy strategies (CES) and digital innovation. Methodologically, we adopt fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), a configurational approach that captures causal complexity and multiple pathways to innovation. Rather than assuming linear effects of training on innovation outcomes, fsQCA allows us to identify combinations of conditions, such as high-quality and inclusive training, regular training participation, hours devoted to transition-specific learning, export orientation, and traditional innovation, that jointly enable or constrain the twin transition. This approach is particularly suitable for analysing democratic organizations, where outcomes emerge from interdependent structural and cultural factors rather than isolated variables. The paper addresses two core questions aligned with the session theme: (1) Do cooperatives that invest in digital and environmental training more effectively implement digital and circular innovations?
(2) Does the democratic character of cooperatives amplify the transformative impact of learning processes on sustainability transitions? The contribution of the paper is twofold. Empirically, it aims to provide systematic evidence on how democratic enterprises operationalize sustainability transitions through workforce development. Theoretically, it reframes the twin transition as a democratic learning process: democracy for learning, insofar as participatory governance creates conditions for inclusive reskilling; and learning for democracy, insofar as environmental and digital education strengthen collective agency and long-term institutional resilience. By linking cooperative governance, sustainability innovation, and organizational learning, the paper contributes to debates on how democratic economic forms could foster socially embedded transitions in contexts of ecological and technological change.